Lyle Talbot

  • George Amy – She Had to Say Yes (1933)

    Drama1931-1940George AmyUSA

    Synopsis
    Sol Glass’s clothing business is losing sales because the “customer girls,” the women employed to entertain buyers from out of town, are not friendly enough. Salesman Tommy Nelson suggests using stenographers to entertain buyers, who he believes are tired of gold diggers. When his fiancée, Florence Denny, wants to participate in the program, however, Tommy refuses to let her. Birdie, one of the other stenographers, becomes a very successful customer girl, closing many sales, and Tommy, too, succumbs to her charms. One night, when he has a date with Birdie, Tommy suggests that Florence go out with buyer Daniel Drew. She is surprised, but agrees in order to earn a commission for Tommy so that they can afford to get married. Read More »

  • Sam Newfield – Wild Weed (1949)

    USA1941-1950CrimeExploitationSam Newfield

    One blast of an exploitation-noir (to coin a phrase) Wild Weed (aka She Shoulda Said No) was marketed by the legendary huckster Kroger Babb, and directed by the always reliable Sam Newfield (who could handle anything from noir to horror to all-midget musicals). Babb, who was legendary for his marketing and publicity techniques (he had some of the most incredible return-on-investment ratios of his time, among film producers), wasn’t averse to starting letter writing campaigns against his own pictures to drum up controversy and thus sell tickets.Read More »

  • Del Lord – Trapped by Television (1936)

    1931-1940Del LordDramaSci-FiUSA

    Quote:
    This film tries to blend comedy with drama, and the result is an uneasy tossed salad rather than a smooth pudding. Lyle Talbot is so stalwart and large it is difficult to feature him as a TV inventor — but he more than makes up for this in the fight scene, where, with his usual technique, he just beats the dickens out of the other actors for five or ten minutes. Nat Pendelton is wonderful as the dim-witted bill collector turned science hobbyist. Mary Astor, playing closer to her “Thin Man” arch smile than to her “Maltese Falcon” dramatic style, is a scheming but lovable promoter of potato peelers who decides to back this newfangled thing called television. All in all, this makes a better comedy than a drama, but the direction pulls it both ways, and thus it fails to satisfy either audience altogether.Read More »

  • Victor Halperin – Torture Ship (1939)

    1931-1940ClassicsHorrorUSAVictor Halperin

    A mad scientist performs experiments on “the criminal mind” on captured criminals on board his private ship.Read More »

  • Victor Schertzinger – One Night of Love (1934)

    1931-1940ClassicsMusicalUSAVictor Schertzinger

    After several false starts, opera star Grace Moore became a motion picture success in the sublimely assembled One Night of Love. Moore opens the film by losing a radio talent contest in New York. She disconsolately heads to Europe, where the best job she can come up with is singing in a restaurant. Here she is discovered by brilliant voice-teacher Tulio Carminatti, who carefully nurtures Moore until she becomes the toast of the European opera world. The two fall in love, but jealousy nearly destroys them both… Read More »

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